Baltimore Community Reacts After Trial Review Shows COVID-19 Impact of Pandemic on Learning in Maryland – CBS Baltimore

BALTIMORE (WJZ) – Maryland State Board of Education data presented on Tuesday that shows how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected students in the state.

Benchmarks in math and English from 2019 to 2021 have plummeted.

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And one review found that less than half of the students prepared for kindergarten.

Those numbers weren’t shocking to the people WJZ spoke with on the subject.

“I’m not surprised at all,” said Chris Gutwein, a retired teacher at Montgomery County School. “I have grandchildren in the public school system and a daughter who teaches in the public school system and I have heard this all the time. The kids miss so much when they dropped out of Kindergarten and not having all that socialization is really hard for kids. ”

Only 15% of students taking the test — students in grades three through eight — achieve proficiency on the standardized test for math in 2021. Only 31% of students in those same grades pass the test. English standardized test.

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Gutwein says she cares about students across Maryland.

“I worry about the kids who skipped some of these steps that they missed, how they can go back and see it again. It can be really difficult,” she said.

Locust Point Lina Nielsen is also not surprised by the latest numbers and said she believes face-to-face learning is crucial to helping students succeed in school.

“Children need to be in the classroom to learn. Nielsen says online is good for certain things.

Gutwein hopes that education leaders consider making changes to help students who have missed out on school during the pandemic.

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“Perhaps the school system needs to be looked at carefully,” she said. “And after the pandemic, it will have to [different] than before the pandemic. ”